Ties That Bind
by VictimofYourOwnCreation
Summary: When the truth is just too inconvenient, and your name is Sasuke Uchiha, you simply ignore it. Keep telling yourself the risk was worth the gain, that it was worth the sacrifice of distancing yourself from the ties that bind. Yeah, right. SasuSaku


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**- Ties That Bind**

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><p>Step by step, his goal drew closer. Step by step, his determination grew. He was not achieving anything by remaining in this village. He - Itachi - had to pay for his deeds, and he needed someone other than Kakashi for that. Itachi, and everyone else that had defiled the name of Uchiha, were about to feel the flames of retribution, the flames of justice. <em>His <em>flames of justice.

_Finally._

He picked up his pace as the village gates drew closer and closer -

"I knew I'd be seeing you here, Sasuke-kun."

- And all that determination that had taken him so long to summon crashed to the ground in an instant. He should have expected her; she was always there when he least wanted her to, always in his way, always the dead weight. So why did it hurt so much to see the pain on her face? He stopped in his tracks, unable to face her. "...Sakura. Go home."

She gulped. "Will you?"

The looki n her eyes was unbearable. He looked down. "I... can't. I have things to do."

He knew she was close to crying by now. He didn't know _how_, he just _knew_. Letting out an exhausted sigh, he rubbed his temples as she continued her rant. He really didn't need her around when he was so close to severing the ties that bound him to this village. Ironically enough, she was the last tie to sever, which made it next to impossible to do.

"Sasuke, stop this madness, please! You don't need _him_ to gain power!" He didn't reply. He _did_ need him to gain power, or else he wouldn't be going through all this trouble. Stupid, ignorant girl. She took his silence as a sign to go on. "Do you really want to walk the path others set out for you? What happened to making your own decisions?" Tears leaked out of the corner of her eyes, drawing wet lines on her cheeks. "Is your revenge worth selling your soul to the devil!"

She was tugging at his shirt, tears dropping on it randomly. He continued to remain silent, staring at her with that trademark stoic expression. Soon enough she realized it was fruitless trying to make him stay, and buried her face in the navy fabric around his chest. Unsure of what to do with the sobbing girl, he bit his lower lip. Why did he hate himself so much for making her cry? He knew the answer, but refused to face the truth. It was too inconvenient at this time and place.

"At least let me go with you!" She cried. "Don't you understand? I love you like no one else! I want you to be safe!"

He took a breath, and gently returned the embrace. _God_, how he wished they could stay like that forever... But soon, the moment came for him to let her go and turn around, unable to face her in this state of dishonor. "Sakura... I'm really sorry for what I'm going to do."

He vanished, and reapeared behind her. She didn't move a muscle, though knowing exactly what his intentions were. His voice was a whisper, but her sheer desire to hear these words amplified the sentence to forever echo throughout every fibre of her body.

"I'm so sorry it has to end like this, but I will be back for you. I love you, too."

Forget his denial. _That_ was the truth, right there, and she deserved to know it after all the support she had given her.

A veil of black, impenetrable and iminent, dropped over her consciousness as she fell into an artificial sleep, his last words still ringing in her ears. Not knowing how much he would regret saying those words to her or leaving in the first place, Sasuke picked up the fragile girl and laid her down on a park bench near by, covering her from the nightly winds with his blanket, and walked out of the village gates. This was his last hope to rise and break away from his past, the faded lights of his roots, and the ties that bind him to this place. The ties that he never really could break, but that was okay as long as she would be here in the end.

Little did he know that against his or even her will, he had just added another unbreakable chain of hope and love to the hearts of both Sakura and himself, entwining them in each other over the countless miles they would be apart, two souls that were destined to be together forever tied to their fate.

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><p>[Author's Note]<p>

A little SasuSaku oneshot that I found roaming the dark corners of my hard drive. I rewrote it to fit my current style of writing and then forgot to post it. Well, here it is. Enjoy.

The title is a reference to an Alter Bridge song that has been stuck in my head for the past month. I do not own any legal rights to it.

Signed,  
><em>VictimofYourOwnCreation<em>


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